Tales of Crimson Darkness II

[whiteflash]

"I see. Still in the courtyard, and there's still orcs around. Both are problems, especially the still in the courtyard thing. The spell will last about an hour; that gives us time to watch and wait. Do you want to bide our time and see if he goes somewhere more open, or should we just attack now?"

Hissra pauses. "Wait. I've... been assuming that killing non-temple-affiliated beings on temple grounds is a problem. Is it?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "Priests only care about priests....and kinda the faithful, sometimes. They not much care about anyone else. But lots of them like to fight. Gruumsh is all about fights and blood and war.

Me doubt he is going anywhere....me think he just waits and waits. Like was in the letters. "

[whiteflash]

"So waiting is out, unless we decide to wait for his invisibility spell to wear off. But we don't need to worry about subtlety, so unless we're doing that there's no reason to wait at all."

Spoiler: OOC

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You said that Graatch (or the guy we're pretty sure is Graatch) turned invisible by wiggling his wings. Is that something that can count as a somatic component for a spell, or would it have to be a spell-like ability?

Also, did Hissra get a good enough look at him before he turned invisible to be able to tell more than that he's a smallish, winged humanoid? Does he recognize him as a specific form of creature, such as an imp or a quasit?

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "We coulds attack fast. Then we get away invisible."

Spoiler: OOC

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Any movement could be a somatic gesture of a spell. A spell like ability needs no movement.

Rolls Knowledge planes check for Hissra
(1d20+5)[8]

He could be an imp or quazit...but could be anything.

[whiteflash]

"Hm. Yeah. That sounds good. Okay, how's this for a plan? I summon a giant bat and turn it invisible, then order it to attack him by scent. We follow in its wake, with you trying to get within reach of our target and me waiting until he turns visible. When Graatch dies, we leave his body if it melts like Yuuta Mori's did and take it if it doesn't. Either way, I use my other casting of Invisibility, and you give the boots that are supposed to turn you invisible a try. (Again: it should be as simple as thinking a command at them.) Then if all goes well we can get out without having to answer any awkward questions."

"Oh, possibly important question: do those trees serve any theolog..." Hissra pauses. "Are those trees important to the temple's priests? If they get lit on fire during the fight, for example by a spell aimed less at Graatch and more in his general direction, will it irritate anyone?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky "No orc cares about trees.

Me thinks your plan is good."

[whiteflash]

"Well, that simplifies things. We can throw a fireball into that plan. And into Graatch, for that matter."

With that, Hissra begins casting Summon Monster III.

Assuming that goes well, Hissra says to the bat in Infernal "There's a winged, invisible creature in that tree. I'm going to turn you invisible, and then you're going to fly over to it and bite off parts it would rather keep. Try to keep a reasonable balance between speed and stealth, unless he tries to flee. Then just get in and start biting."

And if nothing changes while he's doing all of this, he casts Invisibility on the bat and moves aside to let it enter the courtyard.

Spoiler: OOC

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Thanks to Swift And Silent, I've never had to look the rules on Move Silently penalties before.

The bat can move at anything less than its full 40ft per move action and still only take a -5 on Stealth, right? So, would it probably do 35ft per action?

[Darth Ultron]

The infernal bat nods, and fades from sight as you cast invisibility on it.

A couple seconds latter it becomes visible as it swoops down and tries to bite.

Spoiler: Rolls

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(1d20+5)[19] (1d8+4)[7] (1d100)[48]

The bat misses and bites only air.

[whiteflash]

Spoiler: OOC

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And there goes a perfectly good 19.

Well, it happens. Graatch, whatever he is, is still invisible. And I get the feeling he's going to spend most of the fight that way.

How close is Graatch to the wall of the temple? Is he within 20 feet of it?

Oh, and how does spell resistance work if the caster hits his own ally with an AoE? Can I choose not to overcome the bat's spell resistance?

And am I able to act now, or was Summoning the bat my action?

[Darth Ultron]

Graatch's tree is about 30 feet from the temple.

Spoiler: ooc

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A caster can't effect anothers Spell Resistance at all. It is always up. The creature can lower their resistance if they want too.

Summoning is a full round casting action.

Graatch becomes visible as he breathes a cone of acid on the bat.

Spoiler: Rolls

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(2d8+2)[15] Bat Ref save: (1d20+10)[11]

[whiteflash]

Okay, so do I go now, or do we roll initiative?

If it's my turn, and he's within 160 feet, I cast Empowered Magic Missile.

[Darth Ultron]

Initiative

Graatch

Spoiler: Roll

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(1d20+3)[19]

The tree is about 150 feet away...

[whiteflash]

Oh. That might change my plans a bit.

(1d20+1)[9] to see what I get.

Edit: That was supposed to be a two, but even correcting for my mistake I still only get a ten. I think it's either Graatch's or Snagazod's turn.

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky double moves forward.

Graatch Whips his tail around to sting the bat.

Spoiler: Rolls

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(1d20+8)[21] (1d4)[4]

[whiteflash]

Wow, my bat's not doing so hot. 11 hp left, I think. (And without knowing what Graatch is I can't know what that stinger does other than damage, but I'd be surprised if that was all.)

Anyway, Graatch is still visible, and in range.

I think I will cast Empowered Magic Missile, and save the fireball for if he turns invisible. (3d4+9)[21]

And I think the bat would attack. (1d20+5)[13] to hit, (1d8+4)[8] for damage, and feel free to correct those numbers if the bat took a penalty from any poison Graatch might have injected it with. (Not that I think a 13 is likely to hit Graatch even without poison.)

[Darth Ultron]

The bat misses.

All the magic missiles hit slamming into Graatch's body and doing lots of damage.

Graatch takes his action to become invisible!

[whiteflash]

The bat misses.

All the magic missiles hit slamming into Graatch's body and doing lots of damage.

Graatch takes his action to become invisible!

And he still has one action to let him move away.

Does the bat turn to look in another direction?

Either way, Hissra would ask "Partner, do you still see him?" in Common.

[Darth Ultron]

The bat turns and flies northward.

Snagazod the Sneaky "I sees...he is flying away...to the north, right above that small pine tree. "

[whiteflash]

The bat turns and flies northward.

Snagazod the Sneaky "I sees...he is flying away...to the north, right above that small pine tree. "

"Smart, but it won't save him."

If Hissra positioned the blast so that the center of the explosion was about ten feet above the small pine tree, would the bat be caught in it? Edit: And, important question I forgot, would I singe the wall of the temple doing that?

If neither is true, Hissra casts Fireball so that it detonates right there.

[Darth Ultron]

The fireball is well clear of the temple...but sure the bat will be caught in the blast(if you care?).

[whiteflash]

Well, I don't care about the bat for its own sake, but I'd rather it stayed on the field for now. If I had any guarantee the fireball would finish Graatch I'd probably cast it and let the bat either survive it or not survive, but I don't know what his max hp is, how resistant to fire he is, or whether or not he has any spell resistance that I just lucked out on with the magic missiles.

The rules as written say talking is a free action, but... how far are you willing to let me take that rule? Do I have time for one more short call-and-response with Snagazod before my turn ends? Enough to confirm exactly where Graatch is before I have to cast the fireball?

If I can't get one more call and response in, I'll cast the fireball. If I can get in one more, I'd rather hold off to ask Snagazod one more question.

And... where exactly is the bat, relative to the top of the tree? Is it level with the top of the tree, or in a square below it, or in a square above it?

[Darth Ultron]

The bat is in the 'square' above the tree.

You have time to chat.

Spoiler: OOC

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Though what do you really want Snagazod to say? He is 14 feet above the tree?

[whiteflash]

Spoiler: OOC

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I know he's probably not going to be able to give an answer in feet. But I was hoping to get enough information to either figure out where to throw the blast to hit Graatch without hitting the bat or the Temple, or to be absolutely sure that that's not a practical way to go. So I can work with whatever I get, one way or the other.

I probably don't need the answer to be specific to within a square anyway, since you said the tree isn't terribly close to the Temple. Close counts in horseshoes and fireballs.

But first I have to work out what to ask, and see what he does answer. You said the bat is in the square right above the tree. Which direction is it looking?

[Darth Ultron]

The bat is looking up, presumably towards Graatch.

[whiteflash]

Actually, I probably have enough information to aim the fireball now. A 20-foot radius means a 40 foot diameter, right? So if I cast it so far above the bat that the bat is just barely out of range, Graatch should be caught in it. Unless he's fast enough to be more than 40 feet ahead of the bat, which is possible but which I don't think is likely.

But just to be sure... Hissra turns to Snagazod and asks "You've seen how big a fireball is. If I cast it so that it stops just barely over the bat's head, will it hit Graatch?"

[Darth Ultron]

Snagazod the Sneaky"Me think that would work"

Spoiler: OOC

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"A spread spell spreads out like a burst but can turn corners. You select the point of origin, and the spell spreads out a given distance in all directions. Figure the area the spell effect fills by taking into account any turns the spell effect takes."

So, you quite simply point the Fireball to a point of origin from whence it will explode, and it will then spread out 20' in all directions for as much as it will go. The ground will stop it, but this does not mean in the least that it will spread out any further in other directions.

[whiteflash]

"Great, thanks," Hissra replies. Then he casts the spell as described, so that it ends just above the bat and the center of the fireball is above it.

(6d6)[19] for the base damage, before any fire resistance he might have and before we know whether or not he saves.

Spoiler: OOC

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Most of that's about what I expected, except that I didn't realize it could go around corners. Thanks. That could be useful.

[Darth Ultron]

Imp save:

Spoiler: Save!

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(1d20+6)[16]

And minus a bit for fire resistance...

The fireball burns the imp to a crisp....and it's body tumbles out of the sky and thumps on the ground.

[whiteflash]

Hissra laughs in triumph, and is giving orders to his bat in Infernal before the body hits the ground. "Bite something off to make sure it's dead. Not the head, which I need, or the tail, which I'm not sure is safe. If he doesn't object to losing part of his body, bring the corpse here."

He turns to Snagazod, and speaks to him in Common. "I think our work here is done. Maybe we should leave. I'm having the bat bring that thing. Let's roast it over the fire tonight."

I really wish I'd thought of this lie while there was time to tell Snagazod I was going to tell it. Just gotta hope either he doesn't tell the orcs what I'm really doing, or they decide it doesn't count as necromancy.

[Darth Ultron]

The bat has no problem swooping down, grabbing the charred body and flying back over to you.

Snagazod the Sneaky turns and rushed back over too.

Of course, everyone around saw or heard the fireball, and there were a couple shouts and grunts.